In January, Steve Medrano retired. He worked for the State of Hawaii for over 30 years. In February, Steve and his wife Lilly took a vacation to Japan. In March, Steve died. He was 56. I’m 56.

Steve just didn’t wake up one morning in March. Lilly told us later that it was a heart attack.

56 seems too young. Two months after retiring from a state job is certainly not taking advantage of the benefits from all the headaches one probably accumulates working for the government for 30 years.

Steve’s death made us re-examine our insurance plans. At the time, we had a number of policies on both of us. One small plan from State Farm was worth about $50,000. That didn’t seem like much so we decided to add to our coverage on me by $200,000, and drop the State Farm policy.

We received quotes on policies from a number of local agents. One of Vernelle’s friends is an agent for AIG and gave us a competitive quote for $200,000 in additional coverage (on me) with a policy from MONY; Mutual of New York.

In April I met with the agent, filled out the usual forms and agreed to a physical examination. In May I took the physical and signed more forms.

June, July, and August disappeared into the sunset with little communication from MONY or the agent, despite regular checks. As Roseanne Roseannadanna said, ‘If it’s not one thing, it’s always something.’

We thought it important to get the policy in effect by June because I took a lengthy trip back to Missouri to visit relatives. I don’t know what the stats are on people dying while on vacation, but we hear of it here in Hawaii all the time.

MONY, however, wasn’t interested in getting a policy put into effect by June. Or July. Or August. Or ever, as best I could tell.

For whatever reasons, MONY did not want my money.

No, I didn’t get turned down for the insurance policy. I’m in good health, low blood pressure, low cholesterol, and other than a bad knee, I’m doing fine.

My father is nearing 80 and in great health. Mom is in her 70s and in great health. Her mom, my grandmother, is nearing 97 and in great health. You get the idea. I should be a good risk.

What was MONY’s problem? What alternatives did the insurance agent provide?

‘I don’t know’ and ‘none’ come to mind rather quickly.

Mutual of New York is a big company.  Vernelle’s friend, the insurance agent, doesn’t do many single policy sales, electing to work with larger accounts (more money, less work for the money).

In the end, nothing happened. No excuses. No reasons. Just waiting (which is nothing) for someone somewhere to shuffle papers in the right direction. Unless, MONY has some sort of age discrimination issue that needs tending…

I’m a patient guy. Mostly.

In this case, patience ran out and I elected to find another insurance agent and company that liked the color of my money more than MONY.

The process is still the same. Forms. More forms. Physical. What’s remarkable is how one company can do exactly the same thing as another company in 20-percent of the time.

In the end, no money for MONY. Ever.